Food advocate Alice Waters and the University of California, Davis, will establish a new institute to advance edible education. The Alice Waters Institute for Edible Education at the University of California, Davis, was announced Jan. 16 and will bring together experts from across disciplines such as education, health care, agriculture, policy and business to create new solutions for healthy, sustainable and equitable food systems.  Founder of the famed Chez Panisse restaurant, Waters created the Edible Schoolyard Project at a Berkeley public middle school in 1995. The project has since trained nearly 6,000 member programs across the globe. The Edible Schoolyard Project is dedicated to transforming the health of children by designing hands-on educational experiences in the garden, kitchen, and cafeteria that connect children to food, nature, and to each other. According to a press release, this collaboration will benefit K-12 students via education, policy and community engagement, coupled with Waters’ aspiration to provide free, sustainable, healthy school lunches for all students. Plans call for the development of curricula to support food-based learning and environmental stewardship across disciplines and at all levels of study. Gardens and kitchens will be used as interactive classrooms for professional development of K-12 teachers and leaders, UC Davis faculty and students to teach lifelong food values and foster environmental stewardship. The institute will also lead interactive, hands-on projects that support the sharing of best practices among K-12 educators, UC Davis faculty and students, and farmers, growers and ranchers who commit to sustainable practices for the land and their workers.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond has announced the appointment of Elizabeth Dearstyne as the new Director of the School Fiscal Services Division at the California Department of Education. The division apportions funds to Local Educational Agencies and guides LEAs from the state level on fiscal solvency, audit resolution and financial reports. “Elizabeth brings with her a wealth of knowledge about the state’s school funding systems after almost 20 years in education finance,” said Thurmond, in a news release. “Her leadership and management skills will help the state provide crucial support to our schools so that they can provide a high-quality education to all students.” Dearstyne has spent the last 14 years at the CDE in the School Fiscal Services Division at different levels, most recently as the associate director since April 2019. She has provided her leadership, guidance, and support in a variety of K–12 education finance areas, such as the allocation of state and federal funding to LEAs, issues related to LEA fiscal solvency, and the impact of emergency school closures on instructional time and funding.  Dearstyne also led the team that implemented the school funding formula changes in 2013 for the Local Control Funding Formula. Dearstyne holds a bachelor’s degree in government from California State University, Sacramento, and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Southern California. She replaces Caryn Moore, who retired last year.

Two California schools have been recognized as 2019 National Elementary and Secondary Education Act Distinguished Schools. Richardson Prep HI in San Bernardino and Francisco Bravo Medical Magnet High in Los Angeles are two of up to 100 schools throughout the country to receive this recognition, formerly known as National Title I Distinguished Schools. “Congratulations to principals Jenny Paige and Luis Lopez, as well as all of the educators, staff, administrators, parents, and students at these schools,” said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, in a release. “They represent excellent efforts already underway in California’s public schools to close achievement gaps between student groups, and to serve special populations of students.” A project of the National Association of ESEA State Program Administrators (formerly the National Title I Association), the National ESEA Distinguished Schools Program publicly recognizes qualifying federally funded schools for the outstanding academic achievements of their students. It highlights schools across the country making significant improvements for their students.

The California Community Colleges Board of Governors has approved $10 million in grants for community colleges and other educational systems from Shasta County to San Diego to build new apprenticeship programs aimed at meeting local labor needs in high-growth industries. The grants are part of a California Apprenticeship Initiative promoting earn-and-learn programs that engage underrepresented populations in industries ranging from building and construction to information technology.  Community colleges, in partnership with the California Division of Apprenticeship Standards, have registered more than 1,200 apprentices in newly created programs and served more than 2,200 pre-apprentices in establishing a career pathway into state-registered apprenticeship programs as part of the effort. The Board of Governors last year approved 15 awards totaling $6.5 million for colleges to establish apprenticeship programs in agriculture and rural areas. “Apprenticeships combine on-the-job training with related classroom instruction under the supervision of an experienced craft person or trade professional,” said Tom Epstein, president of the Board of Governors. “California has the largest apprenticeship system in the country and many existing programs are connected directly with California’s 115 community colleges.” The Board of Governors approved the grants at its Nov. 18 meeting in Sacramento. The new programs are expected to train at least 500 new apprentices. Allocations will go to community college districts, as well as the following local educational agencies that offer career pathway programs:

The Mental Health Student Services Act is a competitive grant program established to fund partnerships between county behavioral health departments and local education entities for the purpose of increasing access to mental health services that are accessible to students and families. The MHSOAC will award grants totaling $75 million over a four-year grant cycle, to county behavioral health departments to fund the partnership between educational and county mental health agencies. The grants shall be used to provide support services that include, at a minimum, services provided on school campuses, suicide prevention services, drop-out prevention services, placement assistance and service plans for students in need of ongoing services, and outreach to high-risk youth, including foster youth, youth who identify as LGBTQ, and youth who have been expelled or suspended from school. Applicants will apply as either an existing partnership (two or more years) or a new emerging partnership (less than two years), and applications will be evaluated based on those two categories as well as county size (small, medium and large). The deadline for existing partnerships is Feb. 28, 2020. The deadline for new emerging partnerships is May 8, 2020. Visit for more information.